It took just 15 minutes for Fairmont State to spoil West Virginia State's season opener.
A lackluster third quarter by the Yellow Jackets erased a 10-point lead as the Falcons scored 20 unanswered points to hand West Virginia State a 30-20 loss Saturday at Lakin Field at Dickerson Stadium in Institute. An energetic crowd of 811 attended the Mountain East Conference matchup.
Fairmont avengef its loss to West Virginia State in its home opener last season, a 59-34 shellacking by the Yellow Jackets.
"I think we played three pretty good quarters of football," said West Virginia State coach Jon Anderson. "Third quarter got away from us a little bit there. I'm sure we'll watch the film and find things we'll need to adjust."
The Yellow Jackets (0-1, 0-1 MEC) looked like they were headed toward another blowout victory as quarterback Matt Kinnick found receiver Akil Washington for scoring passes of 19 and 65 yards and Juawan Etheredge plunged in from a yard out to help West Virginia State build a 20-10 lead at halftime.
Kinnick finished 22 of 38 with 345 yards and two TDs against two interceptions and a fumble.
"Akil is a senior, he's part of our first recruiting class, he had a great first half," said Anderson. "It's good to see him have some good big plays. Matt is part of that class as well. I'm sure he'd like to have a few of those second-half throws back, but he's our guy and he'll do a great job. We'll go as he goes."
But Kinnick and the Yellow Jackets couldn't get going in the third quarter.
Fairmont's Laurence King returned the opening kick 60 yards to West Virginia State's 38-yard line and Rakeem Darden scored from a yard out to cut the Falcons' deficit to 4.
After a three-and-out by the Yellow Jackets, Fairmont quarterback Cooper Hibbs started finding King and Andre Hall for big gains and orchestrated a nine-play, 71-yard drive capped by Terrell Charles' 6-yard scoring scamper to put the Falcons (1-0, 1-0) up 23-20.
King and Hall, both true freshman, combined for 18 catches for 284 yards and a TD, while Hibbs threw for 304 yards and a TD on 24-of-38 passing with one interception.
"We knew they were that caliber of athletes when we recruited them," Fairmont State coach Jason Woodman said of King and Hall. "And to put them out there on the field in this situation, you're not really sure what you're gonna get. But those two, when the lights came on, they really took off and did what we thought they were gonna do."
Things only got worse for West Virginia State in the third.
After forcing Fairmont to punt, the ball hit a Yellow Jackets' player in the back and the Falcons recovered on West Virginia State's 38.
On the first play from scrimmage, Charles took the ball 36 yards to the house, capping the scoring and dashing the Yellow Jackets' hope of starting the season 1-0.
West Virginia State's defense held for the final quarter, but four turnovers over the final 12 minutes by the offense ended any chance at a comeback. Both teams struggled with penalties, with the Yellow Jackets being flagged 14 times for 112 yards and Fairmont drawing 13 for 103.
"I was proud of the defense, especially, because they got stuck in some bad situations in the fourth quarter and they kept answering," said Anderson. They didn't play particularly well in the third, but the fourth, when we were trying to get back in the football game, they gave us plenty of opportunities."
Anderson, who led State to a 5-6 finish last season, still has high expectations for the season and looks to get his team back on track next Saturday when the Jackets travel to Urbana.
"We'll fully assess what needs to be fixed - obviously, turnovers and penalties," he said. "We played a sloppy game at times, so we'll fix that and just playing a full game. We're going to show drastic improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. I know we will. We've got too much experience and too many good things happening here to let one derail us."
Washington finished with five receptions for 142 yards and two TDs for the Yellow Jackets, while Charles gained 135 yards and two scores on 26 rushes for the Falcons.